Mumbai Police detain two persons in connection with threat call to Sena MP Sanjay Raut, his MLA brother

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Mumbai Police in Kanjur Marg has detained two persons in connection with a threat call to Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut.

Police sources that the two men have been arrested from Govandi area and are being questioned. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 7) Purushotaam Karad confirmed that the two are being questioned but refused to divulge any further details.

On Friday morning, Member of Legislative Assembly Sunil Raut received a call from unknown number. When Raut answered the call, the caller asked for MP Sanjay Raut. The caller said Sanjay Raut should stop speaking every morning on the media and threatened if he doesn't stop speaking, he will be gunned down.

Following the threat, Raut wrote a letter to Mumbai Commissioner of Police and shared the call record. After registering a complaint, police launched a manhunt for the caller.

On Friday, the NCP claimed 82-year-old Pawar received a message on Facebook threatening him with a fate similar to anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar, who was shot dead in Pune on August 20, 2013.

Also read: Mumbai: Threatening political leaders & crossing limits of decency will not be tolerated, says Maha Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis

Speaking on the threat to Pawar, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said the threat is a move to instil fear in the opposition or "terrorise" its leaders through Central agencies.

"The government should take it (threat calls to him and his brother) seriously and not me. The government wants such threats. The matter is with the police and they will have to look into it," he told reporters.

"Sunil Raut received a threat. I didn't file any complaint. We are not worried about it," claimed Raut, who has received threats in the past as well.

"There is an invisible force behind them which the 40 people (Sena MLAs including Chief Minister Eknath Shinde) used to call super power. It is destroying the state for political purposes," Raut said, a possible reference to the Bharatiya Janta Party. (With additional reporting from PTI)